you hit the nail on the head.  the media controls this primary and sadly has contributed to the results.  but im with ya - a v. sad night indeed.

I think there will be a call to reassess and perhaps a trickle of Superdelegates towards Senator Obama.

Tonight's just strange. From beginning to end. The dialogue just shifted from "Will Obama be cornered?" to "Obama is the presumptive nominee" and tonight is "pretty much the end".

But I think she has every right to continue and I won't be calling for her to drop out. I will always call for our candidates to be polite to one another but that's a given.

I hope they both continue and allow the people to decide the nomination on May 20th, when Senator Obama crosses the 50%+1 threshold of Pledged Delegates. And I hope they work together to get the vote out.

And I hope Senator Obama pays of her debts and perhaps seats Florida and Michigan in a show of good will.

I don't know. I think a lot of things.

Tonight's still spinnable.

We'll see in the morning.

For now, though, I know I really want to focus on being cool towards one another again, rather than bristling with anger under the surface in every discussion.

I honestly think if there's a defeat to be spoken of tonight, it was a financial one. The Clinton campaign has been cash-strapped and this didn't help.

I can't say much else right now, but all you Clinton folks did pour your hearts into the process, and I hope the fire is still there for electing democrats moving forward, and I'm not just talking about the presidential race. We have a whole lot of cleaning up to do, and we need a majority to last us a while.

Once again, congrats all around, everyone deserves it.

I'm glad you say you will support Obama if he wins after FL and MI are counted, but I think you need to acknowledge that the maths is there for Obama now to allow them to be counted, and he still wins.  It really is all over - there is no argument to be made to the supers, and I think you are correct that they go on mass to Obama this week.  Also, I'm pleased you liked his speech - maybe in a few weeks you will start to see some other things you like about him.  I hope so.  Good luck.

It did seem like a concession speech. And something about the look on Bill's face -- he looked miserable. Chelsea, too... there was something different. And Hillary's tone -- not what I'm accustomed to.

You're right, it felt terrible. I put far too much faith in SUSA. They screwed up, big time.

As an Obama supporter I felt the same way after PA even though I knew in advance he would lose.  I guess it's just a letdown from thinking we were underestimating our candidate's success.

After PA, I swore I would spend a whole day in bed eating ice cream.  Didn't do it but I just moped around all day...actually several days.

As for Hillary's speech tonight...there was something off about it.  It seemed kind of disjointed, like she made some points but they didn't flow together very well.  Does that make sense?  And then when she thanked Bill and Chelsea, it seemed like the credits at the end of a movie or something...surprised me.  Has she done that before after a primary?

Obama...well, he just won a big victory in SC so of course he was energized and so was his audience.  No surprise there.

Anyway, if you have ice cream it might be a good time to dive in.  ;~)

I wish I could recommend your diary, because your honesty is refreshing. If Alegre's post-Indiana diary contained even a hint of the disappointment you describe, the amount of gloating from Obama supporters would drop dramatically.

Anyway, don't put too much stock in what the media is saying right now. No matter what the eventual outcome, Hillary has nothing to be embarrassed about tonight. She fought hard and won in Indiana. She kept Obama from declaring a two-state victory. That counts for something at this stage of the campaign.

It really touched me.

I can sympathize.  I had that pit in my stomach and my heart hurt during New Hampshire and Nevada.  And then I felt it again during Ohio.

I hope this doesn't add insult to injury because I'm just trying to offer my perspective.  I think she lost it in February.  Not officially, but that was where Obama got his lead.  She wasn't prepared to compete in the February contests because she didn't think she would have to.  By the time she got her campaign back on track, it was too late.  The math just isn't there for her to come back.  I know you're trying to push FL and MI, but even with them, she still can't win.  She can come close, but she still will not overtake his lead.

I congratulate you guys on a hard-fought win in Indiana.  I know all Obama supporters are jealous of that so it is something to be proud of.  But she needed to have a big win to offset his delegate lead, and that just did not materialize.

I thought it was funny that you're a 27 year old male.  I am a 27 year old female.  Could we be more diametrically opposed?

I understand your pain and respect it.
I think it is just the realization that it just isn't going to happen. I can only imagine being in your position and I hope you will cheer up.

If that makes you feel better, part of why tonight was so significant is that it is now clear that, even counting the contested FL and MI results and popular vote counts that seem to be important to you, she wouldn't be able to catch up in either pledged delegates or popular vote count.

And I agree the process is weird but that's what it was this year. Let's hope we can get a better system for 2016.

As an Obama supporter, I felt the same way after Texas/Ohio and after Pennsylvania.  Just like NC for Clinton, polls in those states weeks before the election showed Obama getting trounced.  But, then he closed the gap so well that I started to hope he would win.  Then, he underperforms expectations (but really does no worse than he's always done in states with their demographics) and the media narrative is devestating.  I know that's probably cold comfort, but I was struck by the similarity to your feelings.

I'm sorry -

But there is not likely to be a West Virginia next week.
It's over.
HRC needed another 10-point win in Indiana and had to keep it close in NC.
She didn't.

Long before next Tuesday, the super delegates will have moved into Obama's column and the powers that be will have called on Clinton to concede.  I suspect, also, that some deal will be arranged to pay off any outstanding campaign debt - IF - she withdraws.

That is politics.
Again, I am sorry.

I know how hard it is to put your heart and soul into a candidate only to see them lose. Although I was not a Clinton supporter (far from it), I do think, though, that Clinton's candidacy has been a very important step forward for our country. Because of the road that she has paved, other women will find an easier path to the highest offices in America, even the presidency. I believe with all of my heart that we will see a female president in my lifetime, and I believe Clinton's historic candidacy has made that possible. You may not have won today, but you have helped other women win tomorrow. I hope that is some consolation.

I felt horrible the whole night. I still do. I support Obama, but I just feel sad now. My sister loves Hillary.

The peoople on either side who live such isolated lives that no one in their immediate circle supports the other candidate...well, they're lucky.

In my family, when either Obama or Clinton lose a primary, you can almost feel the "Mighty Casey has struck out" pall in the air. Tonight, both sides of my family lost one.

I feel what you are saying.  I thought she would lose even bigger in NC and I thought she would eek out a win in Indiana.  Those were my April 20th thoughts and in many ways, she exceeded them.  But the narrative tonight from every channel was "this is over!"  I think it's just fatigue and reality setting in.

Honestly, even if she had "only" lost NC by 5-6 points, I think the media spin would be accelerating her out of the race.

I think the race was over after Wisconsin, from a media narrative standpoint, but Clinton's wins in some key areas were attractive headlines.

Obama had a good night last night. And he is to be congratulated on his solid win in NC.

But the effect on the media was no doubt amplified by the campaign's manipulation of the election results by their allies in Gary.  By holding up the Lake County results nearly 3 hours, and then releasing (in order)  the County results that were most favorable, then less favorable, then least favorable to Obama, they controlled the media for the night and even into the morning papers.  Rather than everybody talking about a "split decision" (albeit one more favorable to Obama), they were talking all night about his big victory in NC and an uncertain outcome in IN.

Expectations are set much, much more by the pollsters that any talking heads.

in this equation, pollsters set expectations, and talking heads follow, not the other way around.

for example, New Hampshire.  It's wasn't the Associated Press or Concord Monitor or CNN who set expectations, it was the pollsters.  When Hill's own internal polls showed her down by 10 pts, the media expectation of a loss, followed.

I saw this because when you look at reputable polls, like SUSA who performed so well on super tuesday, they had a mere 5 pt lead for Obama in NC, with 5 percent undecided.  InsiderAdvantage, a poll Jerome vouched for, had a similar tight survey.  So when results come in, and they don't match, then everyone's psychology is shaken - even among those without a dog in the hunt.

Can you blame the MSM or even Hill's supporters for feeling this way.  It's no different than New Hampshire.  Expectations were set by polling, and when the returns contradict those marks, people with either be exuberant, if the surprise is in their favor, or depressed in the opposite.

Same thing in Indiana.  

SUSA has squandered the well earned reputation the y made on Super Tuesday.  Not only did they call a tight race in NC, but the called a 12 point Clinton victory in Indiana.  

That's why people were bummed.  They looked at the poll and sad to themselves, "hey these guys nailed OH and CA and NJ, and PA, etc, so Clinton will likely win IN by atleast double-digits."  

That's why they felt let-down.  That's why Hillary felt let-down.  They're only human.  They were expecting a cake walk, not a dog fight.